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The Matrix
This article is about the first film in The Matrix Trilogy. For the eponymous virtual reality construct, see the Matrix. For the franchise as a whole see The Matrix (series). The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving. It was first released in the USA on March 31, 1999, and is the first entry in ''The Matrix'' series of films, comics, video games and animation. The film received four Academy Awards in the technical categories. The film describes a future in which reality perceived by humans is actually the Matrix, a simulated reality created by sentient machines in order to pacify and subdue the human population while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Upon learning this, computer programmer "Neo" is drawn into a rebellion against the machines. The film contains numerous references to the cyberpunk and hacker subcultures; philosophical and religious ideas; and homages to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Hong Kong action movies, Spaghetti Westerns and Japanese animation. Synopsis Searching for The One After years for searching for The One, Resistance fighters Morpheus and Trinity finally find information about a man that could possibly be the one that they have been searching for. Another resistance member, Cypher, enters the Matrix first and went to the Heart O' The City Hotel to gather the final information that reveals the whereabouts of the man they have been searching for. performs a flying kick on the Law Enforcement officer.]] The film starts with a phone call from Trinity to Cypher asking him if everything was in place for their encounter with the man. During their call, Trinity notices that the call was being traced and she quickly hung up. Soon after, law enforcement arrived to the hotel to arrest Trinity for being a notorious hacker in Mega City. Three agents arrived to the scene to join the police and tell the police lieutenant that his men that are already within the hotel are "already dead". Within Room 303 of the hotel, police officers arrived to arrest Trinity. However, Trinity put up a fight and defeated all of the police officers. She calls Morpheus and asks for an exit. Morpheus tells Trinity that there are agents coming for her and she runs off. Eventually, she reaches an exit and leaves the Matrix before Agent Smith ran over the telephone booth with his truck. As Trinity left, the three agents met up with each other and realized that they were looking for a man named Neo and decided to look for him as well. Neo's Destiny wakes in the Real World from his pod.]] y Thomas Anderson works as a computer programmer while maintaining a double life as a hacker, under the alias "Neo". He is restless and driven to learn the meaning of cryptic references to "the Matrix" appearing on his computer. Infamous hacker Trinity contacts Neo and informs him that a man named Morpheus can tell him what the Matrix is; however, the three Agents arrest Neo to prevent him from collaborating with Morpheus. Undeterred, Neo meets with Morpheus and confirms that he wants to learn more about the Matrix by choosing an offered red pill. After swallowing the pill, Neo abruptly awakens in a liquid-filled vessel, connected along with millions of other people to an elaborate electrical structure. He is rescued by Morpheus and brought aboard a levitating ship, the Nebuchadnezzar. The Truth explaining to Neo the truth of the Matrix while within the Construct.]] Morpheus tells Neo that humans are fighting against intelligent machines that were created early in the 21 century and have since taken control of the Earth's surface. After the humans darkened the sky to cut off their solar power, the machines captured humans to use their bioelectric energy as a power source. Enslaved humans are kept docile within the "Matrix" – a simulation of the world as it was in 1999. Neo has lived in this simulated world since birth; in reality, the year is closer to 2199. Morpheus explains that he and his crew belong to a group of free humans who "unplug" others from the Matrix and recruit them to their rebellion against the Machines. They can hack into the Matrix and re-enter the simulated reality, where their understanding of its true nature allows them to manipulate its physical laws, granting them superhuman abilities. Neo undergoes virtual combat training. He is warned that fatal injuries within the Matrix will also kill one's physical body, and that the Agents he encountered are powerful sentient programs that patrol the Matrix and eliminate threats to the system. Morpheus believes Neo is "The One", a man prophesied to end the war between humans and machines. The Oracle's Message After Neo's training, the group enters the Matrix to visit the Oracle, a prophet who predicted the emergence of the One. The Oracle implies that Neo is not the One, and warns he must soon choose between his own life and that of Morpheus. The Ambush and Rescue dodging Agent Jones's incoming fire.]] As the group prepares to exit the Matrix, they are ambushed by Agents and tactical police, leading to the death of a crew member called Mouse. Morpheus allows himself to be captured to let the rest of the crew escape. As they prepare to leave the Matrix, they learn that their ally Cypher has betrayed them. Disillusioned with the real world, Cypher had arranged to hand Morpheus over to the Agents in exchange for a permanent return to a comfortable life within the Matrix. Aboard the Nebuchadnezzar, Cypher murders crew members Switch, Apoc and Dozer before he is killed by Dozer's brother Tank. In the Matrix, the Agents drug and interrogate Morpheus in an attempt to learn his access codes to the mainframe computer in Zion, the humans' last refuge in the real world. Neo returns to the Matrix with Trinity and rescues Morpheus; in the process, Neo gains confidence in his ability to manipulate the Matrix and is ultimately able to dodge bullets in the simulated reality. Return of The One , using the powers of The One, stops the Agents' bullets.]] Morpheus and Trinity exit the Matrix, but Neo is ambushed by Agent Smith before he can leave. In the real world, "Sentinel" machines converge on the Nebuchadnezzar. In the Matrix, Agent Smith kills Neo. Trinity, standing over Neo's body in the real world, whispers that the Oracle told her she would fall in love with the One. She kisses Neo, restoring his life. In the Matrix, Neo revives with new power to perceive and control the Matrix. He effortlessly destroys Agent Smith, and returns to the real world in time for the ship's EMP weapon to destroy the attacking sentinels. In the Matrix, Neo makes a telephone call, promising the Machines he will show their prisoners "a world where anything is possible". He ends the call and flies into the sky. Cast * Keanu Reeves ... Neo * Laurence Fishburne ... Morpheus * Carrie-Anne Moss ... Trinity * Joe Pantoliano ... Cypher * Hugo Weaving ... Smith * Gloria Foster ... Oracle * Marcus Chong ... Tank * Julian Arahanga ... Apoc * Matt Doran ... Mouse * Belinda McClory ... Switch * Anthony Ray Parker ... Dozer * Paul Goddard ... Brown * Robert Taylor ... Jones * David Aston ... Rhineheart * Marc Gray ... Choi * Ada Nicodemou ... Dujour * Deni Gordon ... Priestess * Rowan Witt ... Spoon Boy * Bill Young ... Lieutenant * David O'Connor ... FedEx Man * Jeremy Ball ... Businessman * Fiona Johnson ... Woman in Red * Harry Lawrence ... Old Man * Steve Dodd ... Blind Man * Luke Quinton ... Security Guard * Lawrence Woodward ... Guard * Michael Butcher ... Cop Who Captures Neo * Bernie Ledger ... Big Cop * Nigel Harbach ... Parking Cop * Robert Simper, Chris Scott ... Cops * Elenor Witt, Tamara Brown, Janaya Pender, Adryn White, Natalie Tjen ... Potentials ---View complete Cast ---View complete Crew Production The Matrix is an action thriller and a co-production of Warner Bros. Studios and Australian Village Roadshow Pictures, and all but a few scenes were filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, and in the city itself. Recognizable landmarks were not included in order to maintain the setting of a generic American city. Nevertheless, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, AWA Tower, Martin Place and a Commonwealth Bank branch are visible in some shots. Subtle nods were included to Chicago, Illinois, the home city of the directors, through place names, city maps, and a subtly placed picture of the Sears Tower. The rooftop set that Trinity uses to escape from Agent Jones early in the film was leftover from the production of Dark City, which has been remarked upon due to the thematic similarities of the films. According to The Art of the Matrix, at least one filmed scene and a variety of short pieces of action were omitted from the final cut, and have (to date) not been published. The Wachowskis were keen that all involved understood the thematic background of the movie. For example, the book used to conceal disks early in the movie, Simulacra and Simulation by the French Philosopher Jean Baudrillard, was required reading for most of the principal cast and crew. Casting Actor Will Smith turned down the role of Neo. He later stated that, if given the role at that time, he "would have messed it up". Nicholas Cage turned down the role because of "family obligations". Janet Jackson turned down a role in the film because of previous obligations to go on tour. Production design In the film, the code that comprises the Matrix itself is frequently represented as downward-flowing green characters. This code includes mirror images of half-width kana characters and Western Latin letters and numerals. In one scene, the pattern of trickling rain on a window being cleaned resembles this code. More generally, the film's production design placed a bias towards its distinctive green color for scenes set within the Matrix, whereas there is an emphasis on the color blue during the scenes set in the real world. In addition, grid-patterns were incorporated into the sets for scenes inside the Matrix, intended to convey the cold, logical, artificial nature of that environment. In addition to Davis's score, The Matrix's soundtrack also features music from acts such as Rammstein, Rob Dougan, Rage Against the Machine, Propellerheads, Ministry, Deftones, The Prodigy, Rob Zombie, Meat Beat Manifesto, Massive Attack and Marilyn Manson. As an extra bit of trivia, the track "Exit Mr. Hat" (Track 6 on the regular release/Track 21 on the Deluxe Edition) is an anagram of "The Matrix" A similar anagram title trick was used on the original The Matrix Revolutions Score. Release The Matrix was first released in the U.S. on 31 March 1999. It earned $171 million in the U.S. and $460 million worldwide,Box Office Mojo: The Matrix. URL retrieved 8 March 2006. and later became the first DVD to sell more than three million copies in the U.S."Press release - August 1, 2000 - The Matrix DVD: The first to sell 3 million". URL retrieved 26 July 2006. The Ultimate Matrix Collection was released on HD DVD on '''May 22 2007'. Critical reception The combination of special-effects-laden action and philosophical meandering was considered fresh and exciting. Philip Strick commented in Sight & Sound, "if the Wachowskis claim no originality of message, they are startling innovators of method", praising the film's details and its "broadside of astonishing images". Roger Ebert praised the film's visuals and premise, but disliked the third act's focus on action. Similarly, Time Out praised the "entertainingly ingenious" switches between different realities, Hugo Weaving's "engagingly odd" performance, and the film's cinematography and production design, but concluded, "the promising premise is steadily wasted as the film turns into a fairly routine action pic… yet another slice of overlong, high concept hokum". Other reviewers criticised the comparative humorlessness and self-indulgence of the movie. In 2001, The Matrix was placed 66th in the American Film Institute's "100 Years... 100 Thrills" list. In 2007, Entertainment Weekly called The Matrix the best science-fiction piece of media for the past 25 years. Several science fiction creators commented on the film. Author William Gibson, a key figure in cyberpunk fiction, called the film "an innocent delight I hadn't felt in a long time", and stated, "Neo is my favourite-ever science fiction hero, absolutely".The Art of the Matrix, p.451 Joss Whedon called the film "my number one" and praised its storytelling, structure and depth, concluding, "It works on whatever level you want to bring to it." Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky commented, "I walked out of The Matrix ... and I was thinking, 'What kind of science fiction movie can people make now?' The Wachowskis basically took all the great sci-fi ideas of the 20th century and rolled them into a delicious pop culture sandwich that everyone on the planet devoured." Awards and nominations The Matrix received Oscars for film editing, sound effects editing, visual effects, and sound. In 1999, it won Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film and Best Direction. The Matrix also received BAFTA awards for Best Sound and Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects, in addition to nominations in the cinematography, production design and editing categories. Influences and interpretations The Matrix makes numerous references to recent films and literature, and to historical myths and philosophy including Judaism,http://www.divreinavon.com/pdf/MatrixMysticalMidrash.pdf The Matrix: A Mystical Modern Midrash Messianism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Christianity, Existentialism, Nihilism, Vedanta, Advaita Hinduism, Yoga, Vashishta Hinduism, Sikhism and the Tarot. The film's premise resembles Plato's Allegory of the cave, René Descartes evil genius, Kant's reflections on the Phenomenon versus the Ding an sich, and the brain in a vat thought experiment, while Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation is featured in the film. There are similarities to cyberpunk works such as Neuromancer by William Gibson."The Matrix: Fair Cop". URL retrieved 7 July 2006. In Postmodern thought, interpretations of The Matrix often reference Baudrillard's philosophy to demonstrate that the movie is an allegory for contemporary experience in a heavily commercialized, media-driven society, especially in developed countries. Another angle is supplied by French artist, psychoanalyst and feminist theorist Bracha L. Ettinger's "Matrix" Notebooks form the 1980s and Matrixial theory from the 1990s.Bracha L. Ettinger, The Matrixial Borderspace (Essays from 1994-1999). University of Minnesota press, 2006. Forwarded by Judith Butler, Brian Massumi and Griselda Pollock. ISBN 0-8166-3587-0 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6RzN1W6MqY Bracha Ettinger on the matrixial sphere at EGS This influence was brought to the public's attention through the writings of art historians such as Griselda PollockGriselda Pollock, "Does Art Think?" In: Dana Arnold and Margaret Iverson (eds.)'' Art and Thought''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2003. ISBN 0-631-22715-6 and film theorists such as Heinz-Peter SchwerfelHeinz-Peter Schwerfel, Kino and Kunst, Koln: Dumont, 2003.. Ettinger began to articulate the matrixial sphere and the matrixial gaze as psychic unconscious sphere with social, cultural, spiritual, and finally potitical implications around 1985, alongside series of paintings named Matrix. Her notebooks named "Matrix" were first published in France in 1991, reprinted in 1992 by Deleuze and Guattari, and in 1993 by the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in Oxford. Starting a long series of essays on the matrix with "Matrix and Metramorphosis" (Differences 4(3)) in 1992 and "The Matrixial Gaze" in 1994, Ettinger transformed the debates in psychoanalysis, postmodernism, feminist theory, gaze and aesthetics in terms of the matrixial borderspace already during the 1990s. In Ettinger's matrixial theory the emphasis is on the space of "co-emergence" of several "I" and "non-I", the virtual, potential and actual shareability of traces of trauma and of phantasy (beginning in the womb as matrix), on the mental re-co-birth where subjects are trans-connected by psychic strings and threads to form trans-subjectivity. Some scenes from the film provide actual visualizations of her highly abstract notions. Japanese director Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell was a strong influence. Producer Joel Silver has stated that the Wachowski brothers first described their intentions for The Matrix by showing him that anime and saying, "We wanna do that for real". Joel Silver, interviewed in "Making The Matrix" featurette on The Matrix DVD. Mitsuhisa Ishikawa of Production I.G, which produced Ghost in the Shell, noted that the anime's high-quality visuals were a strong source of inspiration for the Wachowski brothers. He also commented, "... .cyberpunk films are very difficult to describe to a third person. I'd imagine that The Matrix is the kind of film that was very difficult to draw up a written proposal for to take to film studios." He stated that since Ghost in the Shell had gained recognition in America, the Wachowski brothers used it as a "promotional tool". Reviewers have commented on similarities between The Matrix and other late-1990s films such as Strange Days, Dark City, and The Truman Show.[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990331/REVIEWS/903310303/1023 Roger Ebert's review of The Matrix]. URL retrieved 21 August 2006."The Matrix (1999) - Channel 4 Film review". URL retrieved 21 August 2006. Comparisons have also been made to Grant Morrison's comic series The Invisibles; Morrison believes that the Wachowski brothers essentially plagiarized his work to create the film. In addition, the similarity of the film's central concept to a device in the long running series Doctor Who has also been noted. As in the film, the Matrix of that series (introduced in the 1976 serial The Deadly Assassin) is a massive computer system which one enters using a device connecting to the head, allowing users to see representations of the real world and change its laws of physics; but if killed there, they will die in reality.Condon, Paul. The Matrix Unlocked. 2003. Contender. p.141-3. ISBN 1-84357-093-9 Influence on filmmaking The Matrix has had a strong effect on action film-making in Hollywood. It upped the ante for cinematic fight scenes by hiring acclaimed choreographers (such as Yuen Woo-ping) from the Hong Kong action cinema scene, well-known for its production of martial arts films. The success of The Matrix put those choreographers in high demand by other filmmakers who wanted fights of similar sophistication: for example, Yuen Woo-ping's brother Yuen Cheung-Yan was choreographer on Daredevil (2003). There was a surge in movies, commercials and pop videos copying "the Matrix look", usually without the training and attention to detail that made it successful in the first place. Following The Matrix, films made abundant use of slow-motion, spinning cameras, and, often, the famed "bullet time" effect of a character freezing or slowing down and the camera panning around them. The bullet time effect has also been parodied numerous times, in comedy films such as Scary Movie, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Shrek and Kung Pow: Enter the Fist; in TV series such as The Simpsons and Family Guy; in the OVA series FLCL; and in video games such as Conker's Bad Fur Day. In 2005 a feature-length parody of [[The Matrix (series)|the Matrix series]] called The Helix...Loaded starring Scott Levy as the Neo character and Vanilla Ice was released. ''The Matrix'' series The film's mainstream success led to the greenlighting of the next two films of what was conceived as a trilogy, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. These were filmed simultaneously during one shoot and released in two parts in 2003. The first film's introductory tale is replaced by a story centered on the impending attack of the human enclave of Zion by a vast machine army. Neo also learns more about the history of the Matrix, his role as the One and the prophecy that he will end the war. The sequels also incorporate longer and more ambitious action scenes, as well as improvements in bullet time and other visual effects. Also released was The Animatrix, a collection of nine animated short films, many of which were created in the same Japanese animation style that was a strong influence on the live trilogy. The Animatrix was overseen and approved by the Wachowski brothers but they only wrote four of the segments themselves and did not direct any of them; much of the project was created by notable figures from the world of anime. Four of the films were originally released on the series' official website; one was shown in cinemas with the Warner Bros. movie Dreamcatcher; the others first appeared with the DVD release of all nine shorts. Several of the films were shown first on UK television prior to their DVD release. The franchise contains three video games: Enter the Matrix (2003), which contains footage shot specifically for the game and chronicles events taking place before and during The Matrix Reloaded; The Matrix Online (2004), a MMORPG which continues the story beyond The Matrix Revolutions; and The Matrix: Path of Neo, which was released on November 8 2005 and focuses on situations based on Neo's journey through the trilogy of films. Available on the official website are a number of free comics set in the world of The Matrix, written and illustrated by figures from the comics industry.[http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/comics_new_front.html The Matrix Comics] at the [http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/ official Matrix website] Some of these comics are also available in two printed volumes. 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